Creative practices
Light and shade
How wise words from my fifth grade teacher still influence how I create When I was in grade five, my teacher Mr Jones taught us the most effective way to use coloured pencils. Start very Read more…
Creative practices
The pause before the first note
How taking time before you begin can elevate your creativity The temptation when someone asks me to play or sing something is to dive straight in. Too often I’m halfway through the first melody before Read more…
Creative mindset
Too many notes
what creativity looks like before it’s finished I have a habit of playing far too many notes when I first sit down to create something at the piano. They spill from my fingers, float up Read more…
Creative mindset
How to fall and get back up again
why learning to recover from mistakes builds creative confidence We’ve been watching the Olympic ice skating. Comfortable couch, peppermint tea, watching with awe as they glide, twirl, jump, pirouette, spin…and fall. When they fall we Read more…
Creative growth and learning
Brick by brick
on building music and creativity one brick at a time When my brother and I were kids we had a Humpty Dumpty game. Big blue plastic blocks and a cheerful, chubby Humpty. Build a wall, Read more…
Creative practices
The tortoise and the hare
and what slowing down can do for music and creativity He bursts through my door, up the stairs two at a time despite my protests. ‘Kate, I practiced it slowly, just like you said, and Read more…
Failure
Porridge music
When familiar notes become a deep dark forest There are many times when, annoyingly, frustratingly, nothing goes right at the piano. My fingers fumble, my thoughts intrude like little hammers, my brain refuses to cooperate. Read more…
Creative growth and learning
Dancing across bridges
how structure helps creativity I teach an engineer who applies everything he’s learnt about structures and systems to playing piano, and it works brilliantly. He feels confident making creative leaps because he knows the structure Read more…
Creative thinking
Cowbells and the essence of creativity
What makes something a powerful act of creativity? When I realised that giant cowbells clanging at 5am on New Year’s Eve were not part of my dream but coming from outside my window, I was Read more…
creativity and music
Christmas for cowboys
On creative permission, imagination, and cowboys ‘Dashing through the snow, you, too!’ My three-year-old daughter’s embellished lyrics, for our first homemade Christmas songs, seventeen years ago. We’re still going strong, and this year I found Read more…
creativity and music
Silent Nacht, Stille Night
How does a song change when you sing it in a different language? I grew up singing Silent Night in Australia. Now my students in Switzerland are recording their own versions of this classic Christmas Read more…
Creative practices
What song is this?
How a love song from 1580 became a Christmas carol This time of year I’m so immersed in Christmas music with my students (be gone, Mariah Carey!), you’d think I’d run a mile from playing Read more…
